Stargazing
by Miss Turing
Summary: Eri decides to spend the summer in New York with her grandmother. But what happens when circumstances force her to participate in the Reapers' Game? Note: There will be characters from the Reapers' Game from Shibuya present... Eventually.  -WILL BE REWRITTEN-
1. Flight

**A/N (edit): Ignore the update/alert. I just forgot to put a line (the thingie that separates different parts of the story) near the end... It was bugging me. .  
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**Disclaimer: (this applies to all chapters) I love everybody, but I don't own them. If I did, there would've been multiple sequels, I would be filthy rich, and I would own a company called Square Enix or Jupiter.**

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Bleh – Normal

"Bleh." – Speech

"_Bleh." – Thoughts_

_Bleh. – Depends. Commonly used for mysterious conversations that are anachronistic (ex: flashbacks) _

* * *

_Hey Mom,_

_How are you? Eri and I are doing fine. Since we're not sure that you are because you're getting on in your years, I decided to send Eri over during the summer to take very good care of you. If you feel up to it, she'll be coming over in June._

_Your daughter, _

_Naomi_

_P.S. – Since you'll probably say yes, have fun bonding!_

* * *

_Dear Naomi,_

_It's nice to hear that the two of you are doing well. I'm doing just fine, as usual. I may be getting older, but I'm not a mummified old coot just yet._

_As you obviously know, of course I'm okay with Eri coming here to spend the summer with me. It'll be wonderful to see her again after so long. It'll be good for her too since she'll be able to see the awesome city I live in, which beats Shibuya any day. I'll take very good care of her and show her around so she can shop her heart out. I'm sure she's been dying to explore my ever so fashionable city of New York Ever since she was born._

_Love,_

_Your mother_

_P.S. – Honey, you should also visit sometime. I miss you too you know… _

_

* * *

_

Eri brushed her fingers through her pink locks of hair.

"_Breathe in. Breathe out. I can do this." _

She was nervous because this was her first time out of the country and also the first time seeing her grandmother in five years. All she remembered about her grandmother after the long five year span were her gentle voice and the charm bracelet that she passed on to Eri.

She decided to try and force herself to relax, so she put on her headphones, turned on her pink mp3 player, and closed her eyes…

* * *

"_He's late!!! Where is he?!"_

"_Calm down. He'll be here soon…_

_I think."_

"_Well, he'd better be. We're about to miss the plane!"_

"_Not our loss. He's the one paying."_

"_But it's New York, the city that is the center of all that is cool and awesome in the universe!!!"_

"_Fashion is not the center of the universe, let alone the world."_

"_It is for me! That's why he better be—"_

"_Looking for me?"_

"_Finally! Where were you?! We're about to miss the plane! You—"_

— _Hello ladies and gentleman. Flight 0825 to New York has now departed. I repeat. Flight 0825 to New York has now departed. Have a nice day.—_

"_Actually, we just did."_

"_WHAT?!"_

"_Please lower your voices. You guys are going to make me prematurely deaf. Do you really think I'm that careless? If you just waited a moment, I would've explained that I've taken care of it."_

"…

_Taken care of it?"_

" _I've secured the tickets for the next plane."_

"_But! My reservations! I'm not going to make it on time with a later flight!"_

"_Don't worry about it. This plane's faster than the original one. We'll get there at the same time. It's amazing what money can buy, isn't it?"_

"_Grr..."_

"_Oh. Okay."_

"_Won't it be a burden?"_

"_Not really."_

"_Whatever. Your loss…" _

_

* * *

_

Eri felt vibrations. Startled, she opened her eyes. The plane took off.

Some time later, she started to relax.

"_That wasn't too bad,"_ she thought to herself.

She gave a tentative smile to the flight attendant and started to munch on the peanuts that were in the package the flight attendant, Rin, gave her.

* * *

"_I heard he was coming nearby."_

"_Yes, he is. I'll make sure he pays us a visit."_

"_Just make sure she doesn't find out. She'll be pretty pissed if she does."_

"_What she doesn't know won't hurt her. And she won't know…"_

_

* * *

_"_Did you tell them boss?"_

"_It's none of their business."_

"_It is if they die. They'll be pretty mad at you."_

"_It'll be fine. Besides, the precautionary measures I made should be plenty. Even they can't know everything."_

"_The beauty of leaving things to the last minute?"_

"_Of course. You know me too well."_

_

* * *

_

A person in a black cloak crouched on top of a building and surveyed the scene below.

"_Hmm. What to do? Have to hurry or I'll get caught._

_Oh! Another plane? How…_

_Convenient."_

She smirked.

"_Perfect."_

She spread out her arms. A moment later, she smashed them together.

All hell broke loose.

* * *

**A/N: Reminder- I need to know if I should put Neku in the story or not. I can't start the next chapter without knowing. He might not be seen a whole lot either way, but it WILL make a difference. Poor Neku.**

**Oh yeah. On another note, feel free to R&R. It would make me very happy :D  
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	2. Crash

**A/N: Since none of you decided to tell me if you like Neku enough to keep him in the story, I decided to keep him for torturing purposes (no, really!). Also, I apologize because the chapter's a bit shorter, but I didn't have much of a choice because it was a good cut off point before the first game.  
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Nearby, a red-headed lady turned on the T.V. for background noise while she started preparing herself dinner.

_Anna Thompson is now the world's—_

…_genius who was able to find —_

… _robbery in downtown. If you have any information—_

The news was useless and irrelevant to her, just reports of inane happenings of the world she did not care for. She tuned most of it out until she heard the ominous words.

—_**BREAKING NEWS!!! —**_

Her head snapped to stare at the T.V., horrified that such an event could happen. She started to forget about the dinner she was slaving over and horrified, started to listen to the news instead.

_**Today, there was a plane crash about 10 miles from the JKF airport. Two incoming planes from Tokyo, Japan's Narita International Airport, Flights 0825 and 9764 just crashed into each other. Currently, the cause of this crash cannot be ascertained but investigators are still trying to find out why the freak accident occurred. Now here's Jessica at the scene of the crash.**_

_**Thanks Stan. As you can see, the crash was very devastating. Police and the Coast Guard are searching for survivors, but considering the severity of the crash, the chance that there are survivors is slim. It doesn't look too good for the passengers at this point in time. Back to you Stan!**_

"_Oh God," _she thought to herself.

She ran out the door, scared to witness how this news would affect her friend, but determined to break it to her. _"She has a right to know…"_

_

* * *

_

Eri groaned and slowly opened her eyes.

"_White…"_

She seemed to be in a room –or an open space –of white. She couldn't tell because of the blinding white that threatened to smother her.

"_Where am I?"_

Suddenly, she heard a Voice.

"Do you want a second chance?" the mysterious Voice asked.

"W-what?" she managed to stutter out, understandably confused.

"Do you want a second chance?" the disembodied Voice repeated.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but sure. I guess," she replied.

Eri thought she heard a sigh.

"_Why? Relief? Lack of energy? Bored? Well, it was so quiet that I probably imagined it…"_

"Your price has now been taken."

Before Eri could think or stutter out a thought to question the Voice, she blacked out.

* * *

"_So?"_

"_There was a slight miscalculation, but it's been taken care of. Everything's okay and as it should be: according to plan."_

"_Good."_

"_What should we do with the leftovers?"_

"_You, not we. Well, they might be fun to have around. It would be amusing to keep them."_

"_Sure, why not…"_

_

* * *

_

Somewhere, a boy woke up. "What the HECK?!" Little did he know that that thought was echoed by many other victims nearby. Even if he did know better, all he would've thought was what, "Crud! We are screwed," and possibly, no matter how random this may have seemed to a bystander, "I hate you."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed. Feel free to R&R. They'll remind me to continue updating and keep my spirit up while continuing the story. Also, since I'm betaless, I may not have caught all the mistakes in here by myself.**

**I don't guarantee this but I'll attempt to update at least once a week  
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	3. Pact

**A/N: I was looking for my handy dandy map of New York but it has disappeared off the face of this earth (or at least off the face of my room… which isn't a particularly hard thing to manage), so when discrepancies because of the different locations occur (ex: locations are too far away or details are fabricated), PLEASE, PLEASE ignore them and imagine some imaginary city you've never heard of is also named New York City and is the real location where all of this is occurring… (Beware of even longer A/N at the bottom. I apologize for it and you may choose to ignore it if you please XO)**

**A/N (edit): Ignore the update/alert (again). I just forgot to put a reference label for Eri's last name at the end.  
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"Fancy seeing you here," a cute girl with blonde, curly pigtails addressed a figure that appeared.

"You don't look too surprised," the boy answered back.

"Of course not! I invited you and your… friends… here. "

Purple eyes flashed.

"They'll blame me."

"With good reason, I suppose. Everything that's gone wrong leads to you somehow, doesn't it? You couldn't even be a good _friend_ and join them."

He flipped his blonde hair. "So it's somehow _my _fault that _you _crashed the plane?"

"Of course. It's your fault that the both of us are here watching instead of participating."

"_So, she still blames me…"_

"Bored?" he asked, seemingly without a care.

"Possibly."

"Then why don't we play a little game of our own? Just like old times…"

"Sure, why not… Onii chan (1)."

* * *

"_To All Players (this means you):_

_This is the information you will need for the next seven days._

_1) If you have not already figured this out, you are temporarily (or permanently) dead and have been placed in a parallel plane of existence called the Underground, more commonly known as the UG._

_2) You are now part of the Reaper's Game, which is seven days long. You are playing to prove that you are worthy to be given a second chance at life. For this chance, prevent your Erasure._

_3) To play the Game, you must pay a price. If you are reading this, you have already paid. If you win, your price will be returned to you. If you lose, it is gone, forever, despite whatever circumstances may occur. _

_4) You need to form a pact. A pact is when you find a person who agrees to become your partner in the Game for the next seven days. You will not survive without a partner._

_5) There will be missions given out each day. Failure to complete these missions will result in Erasure. To aid in missions, you are allowed to enter certain shops and buildings – the ones with the sign of the Reapers on their wall._

_6) The noise – the weird monster like things that attack you – can only be combated with Psyches. Psyches are embedded in the charms. (look at the next page for more information)_

_7) Beware of the Reapers. They have black, pointy wings and are out to Erase you._

_8) Good luck!"_

_- From the Orientation paper given to each Player along with the cell phone ten minutes before the Game starts_

_

* * *

_

Eri woke up facedown on what seemed like pavement with random bits of old, black gum stuck onto its surface.

"_Eww!!! Well, this isn't odd at all," _she thought sarcastically.

She picked herself up off the ground and started dusting off her short jeans and self designed T-shirt. She was about to walk around trying to figure out what happened after she fell asleep sometime during the plane ride when–

–_**Beep. Beep. Beep.**_ –

"_A text message? From who? And I still have service here?"_

Her curious nature overcame her anxious mood and she checked it.

"_**Check your pockets. Game Start is in 5 minutes."**_

_**- The Reapers**_

"_Ookay… I already have some creepy stalker dude after me… I guess there isn't any harm in checking though, right?" _

While rummaging through her multiple pockets, she found a folded, slightly wrinkled piece of paper.

"_**To all Players (this means you):…"**_

Her curiosity pushed her forward until she finished reading the whole note.

"_Are they serious? It's just not possib_–

_Ack!_

_That SOB just walked through me!!!"_

Eri was pissed but that finally convinced her of the note's verity.

"_I guess it makes sense. It was a little weird no one noticed me when I was practically sleeping on the floor. Combined with my lack of memory on how I ended up there, either I got drunk for the first time in my life or the note's true. Also, I suppose then if this is all true that the Voice existed too…"_

She looked at a clock that was conveniently placed in the center of the square.

"_1 minute left before it starts; I should probably go find someone to partner with. Now that I think about it, is it natural for the UG to be all monochromatic?"_

She started heading towards a random direction, hoping she would bump into a nonliving being soon.

* * *

"_Ungh. Where am I?"_

He blinked his eyes open, got up, and looked around.

"_What the hell?! Where is this place?"_

–_**Beep. Beep. Beep.**_ –

"_A text message? Wait, when did I get a cell phone… Ah well. It's probably some junk mail or something…"_

Soon, he saw a short girl with black, bobbed hair and glasses run up to him.

"What do you think you're doing Neku? C'mon, snap out of it. After three times, you should be used to this by now.

Pact. Now."

"_Who is this girl?" _"Who are you?"

"Neku, are you… oh… it happened again…"

She sighed.

"I'm Shiki Misaki. How much do you remember? On second thought, just read the note in your pocket and tell me later when we have time. We have about 2 minutes before the game starts and this time around, I'm kind of screwed. Oh yeah, and partner with me now."

"Uhh… Okay?"

Blue lights emanated from the two.

"Note. Read. Now."

"But…"

"Now. I'll explain later." The Shiki girl or whoever she was looked really nervous, as if they were going to be killed any moment. To shut her up, he read the note…

* * *

A petite blond in baggy clothes looked around.

"_Breathe. I can do this."_

She spotted an oddly familiar figure so she ran up to her.

"Shiki!"

The pink haired girl turned around.

"Huh?"

"_Oops. The emerging memories made me forget… How can I fix it without letting her know?"_

"You're Shiki's friend. Umm, Eri, right?"

"Yeah. I'm Eri. Eri Yamazaki (2). It's nice to meet you…?"

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Rhyme Bito. It's nice to meet you too."

* * *

(1) Onii chan- older brother (in Japanese)

(2) Random, common last name since she isn't give one in the game that I found on Wiki… And speaking of common last names, a lot of them appear in Bleach XP

* * *

**A/N: MUWAHAHAHAHA!!! They were there the WHOLE time!!! (Just look back. You'll probably be able to pick out most of the people and figure out who's who by now… **

**I know I'm missing the "If your partner's Erased, you will be Erased after seven minutes(?) unless you find a new one…" It's because here, it doesn't apply. Since you're vulnerable without a pact anyways (look at "You will not survive without a partner."), you can't defend yourself from the Noise that should start attacking you as soon as your partner's gone. Soon, despite any running you might do, you will run out of stamina, be caught by random noise or the Noise that got sicced on you by the Reapers. Ergo, the rule is useless (unless someone's willing to help you out but most won't because they'll rightly assume you're too much of a burden).**

**Lol… I felt rusty so I went back and started going over the game again… So nostalgic… (and yes, while playing, I realized Neku's the most OOC out of all the others here… -____- Whoops!) I didn't realize that I wouldn't get to finish Day 1 (the easiest day) in this chapter and I regret it BUT I barely get enough sleep as it is and if I didn't upload this and waited till I was done with the rest of Day 1, it would take too long to upload…**

**Well, 'till next time :D**

**- Pewter Queen**


	4. Shock

**Sorry this took longer than expected. I felt horrible last week – I was sick, but not… if that makes any sense -___-**

**Well, enjoy!**

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–_**Briiing.**_** –**

The girl looked down.

"Well, time's up. This is where I leave you for now, I suppose. I now have a Game to supervise."

She spread out her black, spiky wings and took off while writing a text on her pink cell phone with her manicured hands.

"Don't try anything while I'm gone. Actually, just don't try anything at all. You're practically powerless here until our Game finishes, as you should well know. Don't make me hurt you unnecessarily because I will enjoy it," she warned the boy she left behind.

* * *

–_**Beep. Beep. Beep.**_** –**

"_Reach the Empire State Building._

_You have 180 minutes._

_Fail, and face Erasure._

_- The Reapers."_

"Hey Eri. The mission mail's here. Let's get going," Rhyme said quietly, her eyes expressing the strong determination – her resolve to win**–**that was at odds with the volume of her voice.

"Okay, but how do we get there? I haven't been here before, and by the looks of it, neither have you, so we're effectively lost."

"Do you see that graffiti there on that wall?" Rhyme asked while pointing to a wall of a nearby Starhucks (1).

Eri nodded.

"That's a Reaper decal. It means we're visible inside that building. We can**–**

**

* * *

**

–ask for directions inside," Shiki patiently explained to her not-so-new partner Neku.

They walked in the coffee shop.

"Excuse me, do you know where the Empire State Building is?" Shiki asked the cashier. The cashier gave them directions. They walked out after Shiki thanked the man in the green apron.

"So how did they understand us?" Neku asked. "Maybe the Game includes some translation thing. I'll check the Psyche paper. Let's hurry though. According to the directions, the building's pretty far. I guess there's a reason why they gave us three hours instead of one, especially with people like us that don't know their way around."

"Whatever."

Shiki sighed. _"Can't believe I have to deal with emo Neku again. If he doesn't snap out of it, which he probably won't, I'll probably have to force him to open up again. At least I don't have to explain everything to him all over again. I wish Mr. H was here though…"_

_

* * *

_

"Excuse me. Can we please get through?" Rhyme asked the man in the red hoodie. _"I guess the uniforms stay the same regardless of whichever Game they're a part of." _The man looked surprised at the young girl's polite demeanor.

"Rhyme, what are you doing?"

"I'm asking him if we can get through since if he's here, that means that there's a wall nearby."

"What wall? There's nothing–

Omph! Oh. Never mind."

"Pact confirmed."

The translucent, hexagonal patterned wall disappeared.

"Thank you! Let's go Eri."

"Okaay…"

* * *

The two were panting.

"Almost there. At least they don't engrave our hands here."

"What?!"

"Nothing…"

"Oh! There he is!!!"

"Who–"

Before Neku could even finish asking, Shiki ran up to a weird dude in red with odd, black wings.

"What–"

"Later," Shiki cut him off. "Reaper-dude, can we get through?"

"Hmm. I heard that you Japanese are into Tin Pin nowadays. Do you play?"

"Sometimes," Shiki answered. "Neku's better though."

"I am?"

"Yes. Check your pockets. You always carry pins."

"_What's stalker girl talking about?" _He checked his pockets anyway, knowing somehow that if he didn't, she was going to continue pestering him.

"Ah-hem. Want pass this wall? Beat me at Tin Pin."

* * *

_Psyche Information_

_You have been given six charms at the beginning of the game so you can test out which ones are compatible (check your cell phone charm). There's scanning (skull), healing (soda charm), shockwave (sword), pyrokinesis (flame), psychokinesis (hand), and thunderbolt (thunderbolt). There are many other types of psyches but you may only be able to use certain ones. It all depends on your Imagination. Experiment, have fun, and don't get Erased._

_P.S. - It's hard to use them while they're on your cell phone so getting a chain (or something else) to attach them to is highly recommended. _

_P.S.S – Noise drop stuff once defeated. Pick them up if you know what's good for you._

_- From the Psyches paper given to each Player along with their Orientation paper and charms on their cell phones. _

* * *

"Well, we're here **–**and with 40 minutes to spare. What now?" Eri asked Rhyme since it seemed like her partner knew what she was doing.

"Well, since we have time, we can explore, but I think it'd be a good idea to learn how to use our you want to try? Practice makes perfect after all."

"Sure. If they're giving us the information along with these... Psyches… to fight with, then I suppose they'll be needed later. We might as well increase our chances of survival, right?"

"Let's practice then. Tell me when you're ready."

Eri clipped on the charms to her grandmother's bracelet. Rhyme took off her bell necklace and added the charms.

"Okay, I'll scan for Noise."

Rhyme held the skull charm, closed her eyes and started to concentrate…

* * *

"How many stupid walls do we have to get through? We're running out of time!"

"Well, according to the directions, we're not far from the building. This, or the next one, should be the last wall…"

"Fine. Let's get past the stupid wall. 'Defeat the frog Noise, over there,' right?" he imitated the support Reaper. "How bad could some freakin' frogs be?"

* * *

"_Maybe –huff– this wasn't such a good idea,"_ Eri thought to Rhyme.

She ducked under the jumping frog while using the shockwave charm to slash at the Noise.

"_You're doing fine. Keep it up. We're almost done. Maybe the chain battle wasn't such a good idea but I thought the increased drops would be useful later," _Rhyme answered back.

Eri continued to slash at the frogs while throwing an occasional bike or car at them…

* * *

"Huff, huff…" Neku, tired out from the numerous fights, used the healing pin to refresh him and Shiki.

"Well, we made it, right?" Shiki tried placating Neku, noticing his sour mood.

A bright light flashed in front of them.

"Ahh! Don't scare me like that!" Shiki exclaimed, thinking it was some prank by Neku.

"Shiki?" a tentative voice asked.

Before she could answer, she blacked out.

* * *

(1) No, that's not a typo. I didn't want to deal with more copyright issues. Besides, these pseudo-names are amusing for me to come up with.

* * *

**A/N: Ooh! It's a longer chapter (for me anyways… I feel so proud of myself XP). I suppose that's payment for the slight lateness of it… Day 1 is complete (and ignore the alerts you may get if you have this on Story Alert because I found a few random typos I *really* want to fix… Ehehe -___-;;**

**- Pewter Queen**

**P.S. It's my first time doing fight scenes (regardless of the scant amount of fighting you see in here). You may or may not see more but be warned: First time = I suck at them... Either way though, more psyche information will be coming soon.  
**

**P.S.S. I hate the chapter titles. They're tentative until I think of better ones, but I would appreciate help...  
**


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